ClassNK certifies Eco Marine Power’s marine solar power solution

Japan-based Eco Marine Power (EMP) has received acceptance from ship classification society ClassNK for its Aquarius Marine Solar Power solution, as installed on classed vessels.

As a result, Eco Marine Power will now provide two marine solar power packages, namely Aquarius Marine Solar Power and Aquarius management and automation system (MAS) + Solar.

These systems include a marine computer system with LCD monitor, marine-grade solar power panels, battery charge controllers, energy storage, data communication devices and interface / control units.

Aquarius MAS + Solar package will have additional hardware and software, which will allow the system to perform functions such as fuel oil consumption monitoring.

EMP chief technology officer Greg Atkinson said: "The acceptance from ClassNK of our standard marine solar power system is a major step forward towards bringing type-approved renewable energy solutions to the shipping, marine and offshore industries.

"It is also becoming clear that solar power has an important role to play on ships in terms of reducing fuel consumption and harmful emissions."

EMP’s marine solar power packages are suitable for new-building projects and can also be retrofitted to existing vessels, the company stated.

With this solution, Aquarius MAS will be capable of monitoring the performance of the solar power array/s and battery pack plus logs data, switching equipment on/off, calculating vessel emissions, recording fuel consumption and displaying system alarms.

Japan’s Furukawa Battery Company provides the energy storage options for EMP’s marine solar power solutions.

It includes FC38-12 valve regulated lead acid (VRLA) batteries or FCP-500 / FCP-1000 series batteries. EMP said that FC38-12 batteries are ideal for solar power installations up to around 5kWp.

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Image: EMP’s marine solar power packages are suitable for new and existing projects. Photo: courtesy of Eco Marine Power.